Boys soccer: Sebastian Chavez nets hat trick, Plainfield Central shuts out Joliet West to stay unbeaten

JOLIET – “You can’t win ‘em all.”

Who knows who originally said that. Whoever they were, they didn’t meet the 2024 Plainfield Central boys soccer team.

Even though, technically, they’d still sort of be right.

The Wildcats racked up another victory on Thursday night, this time by a final score of 4-0 at Joliet West. While Plainfield Central tied Riverside-Brookfield 1-1 in the fifth game of the season, the Wildcats have yet to lose a game as they now stand at 9-0-1 on the season.

Not only that, but the Wildcats have dominated their competition. They’ve outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 37-4. Sebastian Chavez was as sensational on Thursday as he’s been the entire season, collecting a hat trick to lead the way. Plainfield Central managed to blank Joliet West despite playing a man down the final 35 minutes after Jorge Mireles received a red card.

There were a multitude of lengthy stoppages in play due to conversations between the officials. Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald was candid about his feelings after the game.

“Credit to our guys for overcoming a few different things,” Fitzgerald said. “I think (the officials) lost control and the rest of us had to suffer because they’re not accountable to anyone. I’m kind of tired of it to be honest. I think our guys were more of the story, but the refs became the story.

“I’m sick of it. (Joliet West’s) goalie apparently took a swing at one of our guys and I got a yellow card for asking why that wasn’t a red card. We had our captains whispering questions to the refs and they got a yellow card. ...I might get in trouble for saying all of this, but no one gets in trouble for anything ever. We just rate them and it doesn’t matter. Something’s got to change.”

It was a bright and steamy start to the game before temperatures cooled after sunset. The sunshine didn’t prevent Chavez from spotting a clear line to the net as he scored in the 13th minute to give Plainfield Central the lead.

The score remained 1-0 for the next 26 minutes before Chavez decided to make it a brace for himself before the midway break. Chavez was afforded a free kick opportunity, knocked the ball of the keeper’s leg and into the back of the net a minute before the break to give the Wildcats a 2-0 halftime advantage.

Momentum remained on Plainfield Central’s side in the second half as Leo Perez only needed three minutes to extend the lead. The senior broke through the line and extended the lead to 3-0 in the 43rd minute.

Things got interesting two minutes after that when Mireles was handed a red card and the Wildcats were placed in the unenviable position of playing with just 10 players. Despite the lopsided score, the Tigers found themselves in a positive place.

Or at least, they thought they did. Three minutes afterward West’s keeper was handed a yellow card for illegal contact and had to be subbed out. Plainfield Central was awarded a penalty kick which Chavez took and made. The increased the edge to 4-0 and that’s the way it remained.

“I think going into the game we knew it was going to be very competitive,” Wildcat keeper Marshall DeGraff said. “(Joliet West) had a few chances, but we came up with some key saves and let our guys up top do the work”

As for the Tigers, it was the latest setback in a string of rough results. After starting the year 4-1-0, Joliet West dropped five straight before a draw against Romeoville on Wednesday. Thursday made it six losses in seven contests to drop them to 4-7-1 on the year.

Coach Alan Stewart remains optimistic that his team will be able to string it all together and improve the rest of the season.

“This is our fourth game in four days,” Stewart said. “Our guys are exhausted and we’ve leaned on our starters a lot. We’ve played one of the hardest schedules in the state so far. Our guys are responding really well. Tonight a few things didn’t go our way, but we can’t sit here and blame the refs or the other team or anything. We just have to move on to the next play.”